Designs for self-forming prefabricated pull bows are known in the art, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,637,455; 3,954,212; 4,329,382; 4,476,168 and 4,515,837, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A, such conventional prefabricated pull bows 10 have included two ribbon bands 12, 14 with aligned facing major surfaces 16, 18, respectively. A pair of drawstrings 20,22 are interposed between the facing major surfaces 16, 18 of the ribbon bands.
First ends of the drawstrings 20,22 are bonded to each other and to the ribbon bands 12,14 adjacent one end of the ribbon bands (as at 24). The ribbon bands are also bonded to each other at spaced paired locations 26 on either side of the drawstrings.
Pairs of the bonded locations 26 on the ribbon bands on opposing sides of the drawstrings form "fold lines" 30 that act to form loops (as at 32 in FIGS. 2 and 3) in the ribbon bands when the second, opposite ends 34, 36 of the drawstrings 20,22 are grasped and pulled in direction 38 while the ribbon bands are held stationary or pushed in the opposite direction 40 (as shown in FIG. 2). When the fold lines and resulting loops are gathered adjacent first ends (at 24 and as shown in FIG. 3), a bow portion 42 is fully formed and the drawstrings extend therefrom.
Referring now again to FIG. 1, if a fold line 30 is transverse to the length of the ribbon bands, (as at 30a in FIG. 1) the resulting loops 32 are aligned with each other and the ribbon bands, resulting in bows available from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. of St. Paul, Minnesota under the trademark "Tiara". In U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,168, issued to Aoyama, fold lines 30 (as at 30b in FIG. 1) are disclosed that were inclined with respect to the ribbon bands. This resulted in bows being formed having with loops that may be inclined with respect to the drawstrings. Bows having inclined fold lines are available from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. of St. Paul, Minnesota under the trademarks "Pom" and "Regal" as shown in FIG. 4. Of course, other alternate bow designs may be devised and are known in the art by arranging the number, angle and position of the various fold lines.
FIG. 4 illustrates one apparatus and method for constructing a conventional prefabricated self-forming pull bow as shown in FIGS. 1, 1A, 2 and 3. Drawstring webs 20 and 22 are drawn from supply rolls 50 and 52, respectively generally in direction 54 and pass through aligned nip rollers 56 and 58. Ribbon bands 12 and 14 are drawn from supply rolls 60 and 62, respectively and pass though aligned nip rollers 64 and 66, with drawstrings 20 and 22 interposed between the ribbon bands. At least three bonding members 70 are provided (only one of which is shown in FIG. 4). One is generally aligned with each longitudinal edge of the ribbon bands, and another is transversely positioned at a medial location.
The bonding members 70 are periodically actuated in a manner known in the art to form bonded locations 26 along the longitudinal edges of the ribbon bands on other side of the drawstrings, or at a medial location 24 to establish the first ends of the bows, as shown in FIG. 1, supported by platform 72. The location and spacing of the bonded location may be predetermined to construct a bow having the desired size and formation, as previously discussed.
Severing means are provided in the form of knife 74 to sever each prefabricated self-forming pull bow from the bonded continuous web. Preferably, the knife forms a chevron shaped division (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3) between the respective first ends and the second ends of sequential bows. Each severed bow 10 is sequentially received within receptacle 76.
Once the bows are formed, as shown in FIG. 3, the extended drawstrings 20,22 may be tied together about an object (not shown), such as a package, to secure the bow in place. Alternatively, segments of pressure sensitive adhesive tape may be applied to the drawstrings to secure the drawstrings, and thus the bow, to the object. However, neither of these approaches are completely satisfactory.
If the ends of the drawstrings are tied together, the bow may not be adequately secured to the object. Furthermore, the bow may not be conveniently removable without cutting the drawstrings, preventing reuse. Using segments of pressure sensitive adhesive tape while holding the bow in position on an object may be likewise not convenient. Furthermore, if it is desired to reposition the bow on the object, the tape may damage the exterior of the object upon removal, such as if the object is a package with a wrapping paper exterior.
It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,712, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,278,673, to provide a decorative ribbon having a coating of pressure sensitive adhesive on a surface thereof. The '673 patent discloses that a pressure sensitive adhesive may be utilized that is removable from a surface, and the '712 patent discloses that a pressure sensitive adhesive may be utilized that is repositionable with respect to the surface.
However, neither of these patents suggests the incorporation of such pressure sensitive adhesive coated ribbons in facing contact in the construction of a self-forming pull bow, nor do they suggest that pressure sensitive adhesive coated drawstrings, placed in adhesive-to-adhesive contact, may be bonded to each other through the layers of pressure sensitive adhesive.